Wholesale greenhouses recognize the importance and usefulness of the web for the overall running of their operations. Innovative Software Solutions (ISS), provider of the Picas Greenhouse Production Software, recognizes this as well. To support ISS’ goal of providing a robust web enabled Picas, they evaluated and tried different web development environments that did not provide the ease-of-use and functionality that ISS required. Facing the challenge of meeting the changing needs of the wholesale greenhouses, ISS’ search brought them to App Technologies to web enable their Picas software and create their new ePicas offering.
“We looked at a number of options and tested a few, but were unable to more forward,” said John Stallmer, President of Innovative Software Solutions. ISS leveraged App Technologies’ extensive web development expertise and their AppPro for WebSpeedweb development framework to implement the rapid web development environment that ISS required. This development environment eliminated ISS’ cumbersome and awkward web development environment of the past.
”Previously it was a struggle to provide customers with simple things they needed to be successful and more productive, such as reliable web order entry capabilities and the visibility required to plan for orders,” said Stallmer. “ISS resources were unable to bring key features to their customers.”
“By using the AppPro for WebSpeed framework, we eliminated jumping in and out of several different development environments. This had a tremendous impact on our development process. We drastically reduced the development time and man hours required to produce ePicas,” said Stallmer. “We also eliminated development bottlenecks. Now all of our developers are able to get involved in the process.”
“The App Technologies team helped us think through our web design and development. They knew the pitfalls of web development and how to avoid them. They provided us with tools and support and were readily available for our questions. We didn’t have this before,” said Stallmer. “The entire ISS development team is now comfortable with the web development environment.”
Today ISS is able to deliver the web-based functionality demanded by their industry. By displaying real time information on the web, customers of wholesale greenhouses can enter orders and get shipping information such as tracking and air bill numbers via an internet browser. “We were able to land new customers and increase our sales opportunities to our existing customers,” said Stallmer. “Customers that were looking for other solutions to handle this need are now turning back to ISS.”
“Our rapid web development environment gives ISS the ability to give our customers whatever they want” said Stallmer. “Industry leaders can request changes and the ISS team is able to quickly respond. Partnering with App Technologies makes it easy for us to deliver,” said Stallmer. “Having App Technologies as a resource for our customer projects enhances our ability to deliver products to our customers in a timely fashion when our current resources may be busy with other projects.”
The AppPro for WebSpeed framework utilized by ISS is being used by both Progress application partners and Progress end user companies alike. “Whether an application is intended for Intranet, Internet or Extranet usage, any Progress Software user can take advantage of the features provided in the web development platform,” said Scott Blaubach, Vice President of App Technologies.
“The combination of App Technologies consulting services and AppPro for WebSpeedframework allows organizations to cultivate a web development environment that is critical to the success of web-based projects,” said Blaubach. “Once the initial project is complete, our client’s development team will be equipped with the skills necessary for future web-based projects. We are committed to our client’s long term success.”
by DElilah Onofrey
Editor, Greenhouse Grower
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